Seven
by Blind and Painted Avatards
Summary: For Kataang week. Seven oneshots. Prompt seven: Comatose
1. Umbrella

"Get down

"Get down!"

Aang flings himself towards Katara, and the two fall to the ground with a thud. Katara's eyes squeeze shut, and she gasps for air. Aang's body forms a shelter over her own, covering her from the debris and ashes raining down upon them.

Katara takes a chance, lifting up her head and opening her eyes. Above her Aang's brow is furrowed, eyes shut tight, not moving from on top of her, determined that even if he doesn't see the end of it she will.

Katara looks to her left, Sokka is holding Suki and Toph to his chest, rocking back and forth, singing quietly, trying to silence the roar.

Her eyes move to the right, where Zuko is sitting with his spine straight, Mai leaning against his chest, almost as if they were welcoming death.

Now she bows her head again, drips of salty water landing and quickly evaporated off of the cracked ground. She realizes they really won't make it through this. It really is the end.

The red glow illuminates the seven friends now. When Aang opens his eyes, ash fills them. He hears the coughing of the girl beneath him and holds tighter. He strokes her hair, filled with sweat and ash, for the last time. "Don't move," he murmurs into her ear.

He is kneeling next to her when she grabs him, pulls him towards her, kissing him with all the energy she possesses until she dissolves into sobs against his lips. Aang pushes her away, pushes her towards safety as he goes to face it.

Overflowing with lava, the trench won't hold. Aang's eyes and tattoos begin to glow as a pocket of air forms, slowly growing, slowly encasing all of his friends.

He's not sure how long he can hold this. He is slowly using up all of his strength. He is slowly fading. Aang falls. He doesn't know how far, he doesn't know how fast, but one moment he is up in the sky, the next in Katara's arms.

A weak smile, and he follows Katara's eyes as they leave his. Above their heads is a towering ceiling of black rock.

Katara thinks of Aang, curled over her to protect her, and looking up at the magma she realizes something.

Aang is like the umbrella of crusted rock over their heads.


	2. Smoke and Mirrors

Katara stood looking into the broken mirror in one of the chambers of the palace

Katara stood looking into the broken mirror in one of the chambers of the palace. Half of the mirror had been shattered by, not fire as Katara had assumed, but the force of an object. A hairbrush. Katara stared at herself, a crack running through her face, making it uneven.

She examined herself closely, paying attention to the smallest contours. Her eyes were pretty, big, blue. Her nose was okay. Not huge, but not adorable like Aang's was. Her mouth was small, lips not too pronounced, and she frowned, making the effect less than lovely.

Katara sighed deeply, still gazing into the cracked mirror. She wished she was prettier, like Suki. Pale flawless skin, big deep blue, almost purple eyes. Katara turned, facing her back towards the mirror and slid down, crouching on broken shards of glass. She closed her eyes, burying her face in her knees.

"I'm not very pretty," she said into the empty space.

"Yes you are," came the quiet unwanted reply. Katara heard the crunching of glass as he walked over to her, and slid down beside her. "Why would you say you aren't pretty? You're the prettiest girl I know," Aang said softly.

"You only say that because your in love," she answered, raising her head.

"You're right," he admitted with a small smile.

"So you're saying love has blinded you?"

"No, I'm saying that because I fell in love with you the way you are. I wouldn't want you any different."

"Wouldn't you rather have somebody with flawless skin, big full lips—someone perfect?"

"Katara, achieving perfection is like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands. It's not possible." Katara smiled weakly at this, as Aang continued with gusto, "Besides, your lips are perfectly fine the way they are."

Now Katara was full on smiling. "Really? Because, I like them better right here," she said before pulling him close to her and placing her lips against his.

"I like them better there too," he agreed before once more placing her lips where they both liked it so much.

It was then that Katara realized, perfection was all just smoke and mirrors. It was just about liking what you got. And at the moment, she had it all.

A/N: another slightly cheesy oneshot courtesy of yours truly. I stole a line from harry potter… and a line from star wars… they worked ok? And I took this one extremely literally compared to my other one.


	3. Heartbeat

Aang and Katara lay in the grass, looking up at the clouds meandering slowly by

Aang and Katara lay in the grass, looking up at the clouds meandering slowly by. Aang yawned as Katara said, "That cloud looks kind of like a leaf."

"Naw, looks more like a glass," Aang replied.

"Well that one looks like a platypusbear," she challenged.

"I think it looks like Momo," he said with a grin.

"You're making fun of me," she said with a laugh and a playful shove to Aang's shoulder. He just laughed in response, pinning her down.

"And what if I am?" he whispered in her ear. She flipped him over, so now she was on top, which he quickly returned, until the two of them where laughing and rolling in the grass, until they finally collapsed next to each other, Aang's hands still lingering on Katara. Their laughs slowly subsided, and the two grew quiet again.

Aang's hand slowly made his way down to her bare stomach. When it was above her navel, he spread out his hand completely, so it rose up and down with her breathing, a pale spider upon her tan belly. Katara was a bit confused, but didn't protest, the feeling of his hand on her skin was blissful.

She turned her head to face him, and found that Aang's face was peaceful, quiet, but he looked as though he were searching for something.

Aang's hand stayed there for a while, lingering, until he felt deep inside himself, an added presence to his and Katara's. It was like a faint heartbeat deep within her. He smiled, eyes still closed.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked curiously.

"Oh nothing," he said, continuing to smile, "I just have a feeling something good will happen soon."

"Ok," she said with a shrug, assuming it was Avatar business, before removing Aang's hand from her stomach and kissing him deeply. All the while Aang smiled, thinking about the three heartbeats present. Two going crazy, threatening to pop out of their chests, and one faint, and quiet, but there nonetheless.


	4. Butterflies

Aang looked out over the railing of the balcony, at the beautiful landscape he had helped recreate

Aang looked out over the railing of the balcony, at the beautiful landscape he had helped recreate. Aang let out a sigh as a single, tiny creature fluttered down to meet him. The butterfly was small, with brilliant blue markings. Aang watched the butterfly curiously as it slowly opened and closed its wings, as though waiting for something. As though on cue, a tiny orange butterfly fluttered close to the blue butterfly, and they flew off together, circling each other, racing it almost seemed like. Aang smiled to himself, before walking back into the room he shared with Katara.

"Hey Katara," Aang said, "Will you do something with me?"

"That depends on what it is," she replied, eyebrow raised.

"Just come with me," he said leading her out to the balcony again. She followed him, though skeptically, and when they stopped her eyebrows raised once more. "Jump with me," Aang said simply.

"Jump off of the balcony?" Aang nodded.

"Do you trust me?" This time it was Katara's turn to nod. "Then jump with me." He climbed up onto the ledge and offered his hand to Katara. She accepted it climbing up with him, but not letting go.

She felt Aang squeeze her hand, as the two simultaneously jumped. Aang laughed as though it were the greatest thing in the world, but Katara's eyes were kept firmly shut. If she had opened them however she would have seen two butterflies flitting about them as they fell.

Katara opened her eyes just as they were descending to the ground, softly, gently, and into the pond. Now Katara was laughing. She was surrounded by her own element, and realizing what Aang had done. She tackled him and they both floated down into the depths of the pond, smiling, and letting out bubbles of laughter into the water.

They resurfaced, smiling at each other. "I thought that'd be fun," He said spitting out water.

Katara laughed, "I duno where you get your ideas…" As she spoke, the two butterflies drifted past, weaving in and out of each other. Aang just grinned.

A/N: I don't really like this story too much… I duno I guess butterflies just aren't very inspiring to me…


	5. Mine

Aang and Katara

Aang sat on the stone steps, fingering something mindlessly. Over and over his fingers traced the symbol, felt the rough chain. How could he do this? How could he possibly be brave enough? He took a gulp of air, slipping it in his pocket and got up, thinking of her face, thinking only of her eyes.

Aang walked into the house and slowly began his walk through the stone hallway. It felt incredibly long, as though he were taking 20 minutes to pass a tapestry. His feet hit the cold floor, making slapping noises that seemed to echo, he felt as though the whole place was watching him, just waiting for him to screw it up. Aang had no plan. He was improvising it all.

He reached Katara's door after what felt like an eternity and he knocked. "Come in!" was the shouted reply he received. He opened the door, stepped inside and closed it. He was often in Katara's room- almost never leaving, but today he realized how little of it he had really seen.

The walls were deep blue, compared to the rest of the house's red theme, and there was the smell of Katara lingering about in every crevice in here. It smelled sweet, like vanilla, brown sugar and a flower of some sort. Aang found himself getting distracted, and quickly brought himself back to earth.

"Hey," Katara said giving him a small kiss. He was too distracted to respond, hand deep in his pocket. In a split second judgment, Aang pushed her down onto the bed and kneeled at her feet.

"What are you doing?" She asked, eyebrows raised, thoroughly perplexed.

Aang took a deep breath, and wordlessly pulled the necklace out of his pocket, holding it up for Katara's approval, eyes wide. "Are you serious?" Aang still tongue tied, just nodded from his place on the ground. "Yes." Aang grinned, before tackling Katara in a frenzied flurry of kisses.

They stopped for only a moment, where Aang placed the necklace around her neck. While he was doing so Katara remarked, "I guess I won't have to worry about fangirls any more. You're all mine now," before he captured her lips once more, with a confidence he hadn't possessed earlier that evening.

A/N: I totally had writers block on this prompt too… urgh… well it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be


	6. Gravity

There were two sides to everything, Aang noted

There were two sides to everything, Aang noted. A good and a bad. Nothing pure evil, nothing perfectly nice. Gravity just so happened to be one of those things. It could stab you in the back, almost literally, and it can do the impossible, and keep you locked down onto something floating out in space.

"Oomph," was Aang's muffled cry of pain as he missed a stair, tumbling downwards and landing on the cold stone. He got up, nursing his minor injuries, several bruises and cuts, and made his way towards where he knew Katara was, in need of a small amount of healing. "I hate gravity," he muttered under his breath as he half limped down the hall.

He reached Katara's room, and let himself in, throwing himself on her bed with a loud groan. "What's up?" she asked cheerfully from her vanity.

"I fell down the stairs," Aang said pitifully, "Again." Katara just laughed, getting up to check his injuries.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked with a smile.

"Well, right here hurts," he said motioning to his ankle, still eagle spread on the soft mattress. Katara bent down rolling up his pants with a sigh.

"Here?" she asked poking it gently.

"Ow, yes!" Aang said as he flinched away.

"Ok, how about this?" she asked and Aang felt soft lips come in contact with his throbbing ankle. Aang let out a breath of air in response.

"Where else does it hurt?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"Well, my head hurts a little bit," he said innocently.

Katara got up and walked around to the other side of the bed, where Aang's head was and slowly kneeled down. She took her time in "examining" his head for injuries, with Aang's eyes closed in ecstasy, until she settled on giving the tip of his arrow a gentle kiss.

"My lips kinda hurt too," he said with the same innocent voice, letting himself fall further off the bed so his head was hanging upside down facing Katara.

Without further ado, Katara grasped his head and kissed him deeply, though he was still upside down.

This, Aang decided, was one of those times he absolutely adored gravity.

A/N: eh not sure about this one. Not great. Not awful… if anyone has an opinion reviews r always appreciated look at readers with small glimmer of hope


	7. Comatose

I blink trying to clear my vision. Everything is white. Where am I? The last thing I remember was walking with Zuko, in—were we in the Fire Nation? I think we were… Where is everyone? Where is everything? Where is anything?

I push myself up and try to walk, but end up stumbling on every step and falling. It's like I've just been at sea for years. I try again, similar results ensuing. Crawling, I decide to find out where I am. There's no water, no trees, no earth. Is there even air in this vast white wasteland? Am I even alive? Is this sea of white where I'll stay for all eternity?

No, no I'm not dead. I can't be. Shaking the thought seems like it's what I should do, but what other explanation is there? I'm not dead though. I'm not dead. I'm not.

I repeat these words, if I say them enough they won't be true. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'M NOT DEAD! I finally yell at the top of my lungs, trying to awaken someone, anyone, but just succeed in collapsing.

"I'M NOT DEAD!" the words echo from my mouth as I bolt upright, tangled in sheets. "Katara!" I hear before I'm swallowed by Aang's warmth. His face is tearstained, bags dark and deep under his eyes. "Aang?" I feel like I'm newly reborn, and completely out of it.

Aang pulls away and I cringe at the realization that unlike in the land filled with white, here I actually feel pain. Bandages cover my middle and my head. "What happened?" I ask, not sure if I want to know the answer.

"It was an attempt on Zuko's life," Aang says solemnly.

"Is he ok? I mean I-"

"He's fine, Katara. And now you are too."

"Then what happened?"

"The attacker's scheme wasn't well planned out, but it ended up with you getting the full blow of it rather than Zuko. He carried you back with 3 broken ribs, one cracked and completely unconscious. You were like that for about a week," Aang finishes.

I sit for a moment, processing all Aang has told me before I decide to give him a bit of relief. I kiss him hard, making sure that when the kiss breaks he doesn't move. "I thought you weren't gonna remember me," he says, head hanging, "The healer said you hit your head pretty bad."

Pretty bad is an understatement. I laugh a bit, but stop, fingering my bandages. "I could _never _forget you," I say as I kiss him again. He smiles and lays his head in the small space between my shoulder and head. I am actually happy. And I am not dead. I am positive about that.

A/N: ok this is actually i am not dead... but i really couldn't come up with anything original and not cliche other than this and I didn't want to write it again bcuz tht wud b no fun... and nobody actually read it anyway so... a recycled story!


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